Yew tree undergoing ‘a sex change’

The UK’s oldest tree, thought to be up to 5,000-years-old, is undergoing a ‘sex change’.

Records have always noted the Fortingall yew in Perthshire as a male tree but it has recently started sprouting berries, something only female yew trees do.

Experts at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh spotted three berries on a high branch of the tree, located in the churchyard of the village of Fortingall, Perthshire, and have now taken them for analysis as part of a conservation project.